This invention relates to a suspended urinary external drainage system (SUEDS) for incontinent people and more particularly to a suspended urinary external drainage system type diaper which moves fluids from contact with a person""s skin and delivers fluids to a holding bag.
Cloth and paper diapers for small children work reasonably well. Children hold urine in their bladders for some period of time and then discharge a manageable quantity at one time. Periodic checks by parents or others generally result in diaper changes before skin problems develop due to prolonged exposure to urine. By the time a baby reaches the normal age for potty training, the quantity of urine discharged from the bladder at one time has increased. Conventional diapers have a limited capacity to hold liquids and may be overloaded at times when babies grow and become mobile. Problems with rashes and infections increase with age but are still manageable with adequate care.
Incontinent adults tend to discharge urine almost constantly. Cloth and paper diapers, worn by incontinent adults, are wet most of the time. Diapers worn by such adults must be changed frequently and even then skin problems occur. To reduce these problems with skin rashes and infections due to over exposure to urine, catheters have been developed. Female catheters are indwelling, tend to leak, become unattached, and frequently cause infections. For many females, catheters are unacceptable. Condom catheters for males are more successful but still have problems. They frequently fall off. Skin inside the condom is in contact with urine almost constantly and develops rashes which are difficult to treat.
Urethral catheters for males that are inserted into the urethra are superior to other catheters. They eliminate contact between the skin and urine. Skin rashes are substantially eliminated. Infections are not eliminated however. Catheter tubes must be removed frequently and replaced with clean tubes. Insertion of catheters into the urethra can be difficult and time consuming and is never a pleasant task. Infections that start in the urethra can spread to the bladder and kidneys. Kidney and bladder infections tend to be difficult to treat and can be fatal.
Individuals who are incontinent are generally older individuals. Most of them have other health problems and many are in medical facilities such as nursing homes. These individuals may require several man-hours of care daily. Providing such care is expensive.
Infections, that frequently afflict individuals that are incontinent, are treatable if the individual is otherwise healthy. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, incontinent individuals often have other medical problems. These other problems can make infections in the urinary tract more difficult to treat as stated above and may result in such infections becoming life threatening. A bladder or kidney infection can be fatal to a person with an artificial heart valve for example.
An object of the invention is to provide a suspended urinary external drainage system type diaper which drains urine away from exposed skin. Another object of the invention is to provide a diaper which catches urine that is drained away from the skin and is collects the urine in a collector. A further object of the invention is to drain urine from the collector into a holding bag. A still further object of the invention is to provide a diaper which remains comfortable and relatively dry for several hours when worn by an incontinent person. A yet still further object of the invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive extended wear diaper.
The diaper includes a substantial number of short capillary tubes positioned to receive urine and carry the urine to a collector. The collector is a ring-shaped member with a wall that the capillary tubes pass through. A liquid tight seal is formed between the capillary tubes and the wall of the collector. Drainage tubes are connected to the collector in positions in which at least one drainage tube will drain liquid from the collector when the person wearing the diaper is sitting, lying on the back, lying on the stomach or lying on a side. The discharge ends of the capillary tubes are near the center of the collector passage to ensure that fluids are not carried out of the collector by the capillary tubes.
The drainage tubes include one-way valves that prevent the flow of fluid from the drainage tubes into the collector. These one-way valves can be located in the drainage tube entries or between the drainage tube entries and the holding bag.
A pressure increase at the normal discharge end of the capillary tubes relative to the inlet end of the capillary tubes could prevent the flow of fluid into the capillaries and into the collector. A vent valve may be provided in the collector that equalizes the pressure of air inside the collector with the pressure of air outside of the collector. If necessary a tube can be connected to the vent valve to move the gas discharge away from the person wearing the diaper.